YELLOW IS FORBIDDEN (Pietra Brettkelly, New Zealand). 94 minutes. Rating: NNN
Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star And The Sudanese Twins) finds a gregarious and entertaining subject in Guo Pei, a Chinese fashion designer whose fantasy creations earned her a rare invitation into France’s Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. She isn’t exactly down to earth (she has a collection of 400 teddy bears), but comes off as unpretentious and open compared to subjects of many other fashion docs. She’s open about how she finances her extravagant designs, shares screen time with her ailing parents in the film’s sweetest scene and pushes back against the pressure she is under to be a good representative of China abroad.
Brettkelly positions Pei at a cultural crossroads – between east and west, old and new – but the story is a familiar one about a creative brushing up against commercial pressures. The film is a touch too long, but its delights are the insane details Pei puts into her elaborate designs, details she definitely sweats. She laughs when recalling a model nearly toppling in a 55-pound dress with a 16-foot train that took 50,000 hours to embroider (the same one Rihanna famously wore to the Met Gala in 2015) and then, incredulously, she does it all over again for her Paris couture debut. The climactic runway show is a nail-biter.
Apr 30, 6:15 pm, Scotiabank 3 May 1, 10 am, TIFF 1 May 6, 12:30 pm, TIFF 1
